more questions (sorry)

I know I'm posting a lot i just keep coming up with new questions.
1. I've seen bird shot and buck shot discussed but isn't there a "slug" as well? whats this/what does it do?
2. I know i want a 12 gauge either 870 remington or mossburg but i am only 5'1 so i need a shorter gun the primary heights I'm finding are a total of 48' that's 4 feet... am i wrong in thinking a gun that's almost my height wont be easy to shoot?
3. i am on a tight budget so the cheapest but still reliable for home defense. what would you suggest?
4. please assume in your answers that i have never heard a gun term in my life.
thank you very much for your help!

I don’t think you will have a problem height wise handling it. Do you have the strength for it is the real question. I saw in your other post that you want a 10 gauge. This is a lot of power for home defense. You may be better off with a 20 gauge. Still a very effective gun at the distances involved in home defense, and easier to handle as a smaller person.

As for what load to use, slugs are mostly used for hunting at greater distance. Buck shot tends to go through walls and hurt neighbors. In my opinion birdshot is probably best for protection inside the house.

You could try calling shooting ranges in your area and see if they rent guns. Always best to test drive before you buy.

88 Security
Mossberg's cheaper brother, with a shorter "security barrel". This is very similar to what my Mossberg now looks like. I bought my used Mossberg for $100 at a pawn shop in 1995; it still works fine. I have changed the barrel to a shorter one that cost about $80, and i changed out the wooden pieces (stock & foregrip) for lighter plastic pieces that cost about $40. Go see what your local pawn shop has in a Mossberg 500 or Maverick.

If at all possible, find a range or friend who will let you try out their shotgun first, to see if it is too much for you to comfortably & safely handle.

At this point, you have too many options to enumerate without writing a book. Here's some quick thoughts:

Maverick, by Mossberg, makes both an 18 1/2" bbl. or a 20" bbl. Security model, each for less than $200 new. It's a good gun. Mossberg's 500 Security model is available in the same bbl. lengths and is a little pricier, but still under $300. The Remingon 870 Express Security is also a very good option...for about the same price as the Mossberg 500, maybe a little more, say $325 or so. BTW, youth model stocks are also available for these guns and have a shorter LOP (length of pull). NEF makes the Pardner Protector for under $200. Charles Daly & Tri-Star both make inexpensive HD pump shotguns, but then repair/parts may be a problem because they are not nearly as popular as Mossberg/Remington. The Benelli Nova is a very nice gun in the $350 range. Then of course, there are used shotguns available for quite a bit less if you know what to look for. If you're a novice, you'd better take someone who isn't with you if you go to gun or pawn shops looking at used guns. A novice is simply "fresh meat" to many of those guys. You'll pay more for a well-used gun than a new one costs at a big box store.

These are not all of your options, just some of them.

You really need to go to a large sporting goods store like Academy, Cabela's, Bass Pro, etc., with a gun-savvy friend, and look at the guns, their prices, their options, etc. Handle them, ask questions. Decide what you think you can physically handle and afford. In any case, get some personal opinions with hands-on experience...then you can make a better decision on new or used, model, gauge, etc.

yes the slugs are just like ther name describes them as a large slug of metal most are lead some are solid and in excess of 1 oz in weight some are jacketd like a rifle bullet and have a wrapping of brass metal, some are sabot rounds of odd shape and encased in a break away plastic covering that acts as a means to get the aerodynamic projectile out the barrel.

The 870 is a model of pump action shotgun manufactured by Remington Arms it has several desirable features that allot of shotgun shooters like, the most noteable is the removable barrel so a different barrel can be mounted on the action for different type hunting sinero's a rifle sighted cylinder bored slug barrel or a scoped cantalever fully rifled slug barrel is also available as well a non ribed and ribed barrels for bird shooting with fixed and replaceable choke tubes these choke tubes of different constrictions are used to affect the density of the shot as it leaves the barrel a tight constriction is supposed to keep the bunch of bird shot in a tighter formation as it travels to a distant target a choke of a more open tolerance is to allow shot to disperce at a closer range (like a nozzle on your garden hose)
The 870 can be modified from stock to add a extended magazine tube to hold a greater capacity of ammunition (regulations for waterfoul hunting limit the rounds to 2 in the magazine + one cartridge in the barrel's chamber)
the controls on the trigger groupe are uniformly liked as well.

Your height shouldent be a issue allot of fine shot gun marksmen are of short stature as long as the stock fits your stature correctly Length of pull and cast off and you have a length of barrel your comfortable with it isant really a issue like a pair of shoes that dont fit right ther painfull to run.
fit is the main issue if it fits right you will be able to handle the recoil and sight the barrel which enhances accuracy or your shots.

As for the dark serious issue of home defence I'd just as soon avoide use of leathle force nothing like inadvernanly fireing a slug through the wall of into the next appartment, or if a family a loved ones room
Instead use a big stick/ Billyclub/belaying pin remember to apply grease to the outer 2/3'ds of the handle to prevent grabbing from your grasp,Then when its time to repell all boarders you just go to town hit them hard and fast and continueiousely about the head neck & shoulders nothing like a good billy club to rail on a intruder in the dark takes all the play right out of them pronto! you dont have to aim, it doesent need reloading, in a dark hall way or stair well its just right, leave the lights off and just start windmilling your way down the hall besides ther brusises and contusions will heal and its personally satisfying in the physical effort you exert working off your adreanalin rush and you can even chuck it at the back of a fleeing intruder without worrying about harming the billy clubs finish.

-dillinger- what do you think would be a better choice? i am not old enough to get hand guns and i thought rifles were longer than shotguns. is there another type that i dont know about?

-JDP- my late fiance taught me how the inner working of a rifle work and how to clean them. I had trouble supporting the weight of his rifle and i could barely reach the trigger though that thing was huge (30/30) since i have began weight training and such so i dont know what i can cary anymore.

-OTZ- I live alone in a house 3 houses down from the bar with a door that has marks from where it has been tried to be picked 3 or 4 times. (I know i know i should move)

As far as taking someone experienced with me, the only one i knew is no longer with us, so do any of you gentlemen live in nc?

--JDP- my late fiance taught me how the inner working of a rifle work and how to clean them. I had trouble supporting the weight of his rifle and i could barely reach the trigger though that thing was huge (30/30) since i have began weight training and such so i dont know what i can cary anymore.

Like I said, I think your best bet is to go to a range and try a 20 gauge short barrel shotgun. Guns are the great equalizer for size and strength.

Also a self defense class would be a good idea. You’re not always going to be near the gauge.

I'd get a dog mabe a smaller male dog as they are easyer to keep than a full sized dog they make a great companion nothing in the world is more happy to see you at the end of a trying day than a good dog, one these nights you are going to awaken to a dark figure in your room going through your stuff, mabe more down stairs eating your food and looking for booze stinking up the place, mabe one morning on the wayt to the bathroom you'd find a drunk sleeping off one, on your floor or sofa, if the neighborhood is as rough as you say, having a gun in the house while you are away at school or work leaving it in the house, it'd better be secured or it can be stolen if broken into, druggies and drunks would steal the gun and swap it for drugs or booze somthing you'd regret